How to determine the legitimacy of an ebook?

I'm looking for an electronic edition of an older book. It was originally published in the early 1970s, and it appears at multiple reputable bookstores (Kobo, Amazon, and others). However, I'm hesitant in buying it because the reputability of a source seems to be reliant upon the copyright holder being vigilant. For current books, the author is probably vigilant. For older books, I'm somewhat skeptical.

Adding to the complexity of figuring this out: it is a non-fiction work, so it is not a prime candidate for republication. It is also a specialist text, which means that the potential market is small. It seems to have been a moderately popular book in its era, but it was by no means a best seller. It's interest to current readers is purely historical.

Does anyone have any advice on determining whether such a book is legitimate, or if someone is just taking advantage of it's semi-popularity and semi-obscurity?

(Specifics: "The Psychology of Computer Programming" by Gerald Weinberg. Even though I'd like to know for this particular title, general advice is welcome since I'm interested in computer books from this era.)

[cromag]

Honestly, its presence at several reputable online bookstores is probably the best assurance you can get.

There's no way I know of to check if an author had signed away rights to a publisher, etc. But if the book appears at Amazon, Kobo, etc., it will be seen by many people, at least some of whom are bound to mention it to the author. And reputable vendors, like Amazon, etc., respond to "take down" notices.

Originally Posted by cromag

Honestly, its presence at several reputable online bookstores is probably the best assurance you can get.

There's no way I know of to check if an author had signed away rights to a publisher, etc. But if the book appears at Amazon, Kobo, etc., it will be seen by many people, at least some of whom are bound to mention it to the author. And reputable vendors, like Amazon, etc., respond to "take down" notices.

That is sort-of my line of thought too. Unfortutately, I'm still a bit jittery about it. If it was a broadly recognized book, like "The Mythical Man Month", what you're saying would be obvious since someone would mention it to the author. On the otherhand, much more recent titles that aren't as popular as "The Mythical Man Month" aren't available as ebooks. One example is, "When Computers were Human" from 2005. So I'm left thinking that the answer is somewhat more complex.

[GeoffR]

I was suspicious about a book being sold on Kobo that was available for free from the author's website. I sent an email to the author just to ask him if the book was legitimate. I didn't hear back but the book disappeared from Kobo about two weeks later.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by cromag

Honestly, its presence at several reputable online bookstores is probably the best assurance you can get.

Not if they all allow random people from the internet to upload books for sale. There's lots of 1970s pulp fiction on Amazon that shouldn't be there, a lot of them with their original covers but with the publisher's logo airbrushed out. But if whoever has the copyright now doesn't care nothing will happen to them.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

(Specifics: "The Psychology of Computer Programming" by Gerald Weinberg. Even though I'd like to know for this particular title, general advice is welcome since I'm interested in computer books from this era.)

Since the author links to the ebook on his website I'd say it's legit.

http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/Site/...sychology.html

[MickiTee]

Originally Posted by cromag

Honestly, its presence at several reputable online bookstores is probably the best assurance you can get.

Not necessarily. Remember Amazon.com and their reaction when they found they were selling an illegal edition of Orwell's 1984 back in 2009.

Try checking the original publisher's web site and see if they're offering an ebook version or contacting them.

[SleepyBob]

Can't you also look at the publisher of the ebook and see if it is the same as the pbook?

If they are different, that doesn't mean it's illegitimate, but if they match, that would strong indicate a legitimate edition.

[QuantumIguana]

If I walk into a store, I have good reason to presume that the products for sale are legitimate. On the other hand, if I am buying from someone operating out of a van in a dark alley, not so much.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Since the author links to the ebook on his website I'd say it's legit.

http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/Site/...sychology.html

My gawd. I'm going to have to download a sample first, just to ensure that he didn't decide to update the formatting to match his website!

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

If I walk into a store, I have good reason to presume that the products for sale are legitimate. On the other hand, if I am buying from someone operating out of a van in a dark alley, not so much.

If you're talking about a physical store that is reputable, I'd agree. (If the products aren't legitimate, the store was probably duped as well.) Yet I don't like how many vendors of digital products accept submissions from random sources without properly vetting them. MickiTee's example is a classic one.

As per SleepyBob's suggestion, if the book is legit the rights have reverted to the author.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Since the author links to the ebook on his website I'd say it's legit.

http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/Site/...sychology.html

How do you know that's really his site?

[mike_bike_kite]

I find it difficult to believe that you spend the time to worry about this. Do you worry about the provenance of everything you purchase? If you're really concerned then just try to contact the author - his contact details are on Amazon (assuming that's the real person of course)